If you are looking to pick up Battlefield 3 for friends, family or maybe even yourself on Black Friday you'll find many retailers have it on sale. The best deal for an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 version of Battlefield 3 can be found at Walmart for $28. You can pick up the PC version for ~$40 at a couple different places. Amazon runs lighting deals for video games, so you might want to keep an eye on that.

Couple places are offering BF3 as a doorbuster meaning it will sell out quick and if you really want it, find out when the store opens (most likely 12am) and line up well before they open. Other stores have Battlefield 3 as part of a buy one get one deal (B1G1).

If you have happen to own a Xperia PLAY device you can download 4 games for free including Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Sony and EA are running this promotion through January 15th, 2012. The 4 games available for free are Dead Space, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Need for Speed Shift and Need for Speed Hot Pursuit.

As promised, NVIDIA has just released 285.38 beta drivers, which are optimized for Battlefield 3. The release notes say they will provide a 38% performance boost in Battlefield 3 as well as increased stability, image quality and an SLI profile. AMD plans on releasing BF3 optimized drivers today as well.

GeForce 500 series: Battlefield: Bad Company 2–the game stutters in certain maps after several minutes of gameplay.

GeForce GTX 560 Ti: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 –there is corruption on the edges of some objects when Transparency AA is enabled.

[SLI], 3DTV Play, GeForce 500 series: With SLI enabled using 3DTV Play, the mouse cursor flickers and shakes on the main menu of various 3D games, such as Crysis 2, Battlefield Company 2, Dues X, and Civilization 5.

As we mentioned last week, a Battlefield: Bad Company 2 R11 patch will be coming out on Wednesday. The official post on the Battlefield Blog has some additional information on it. The patch will be 2.6 GB. Steam users will be automatically updated on Wednesday morning. Non Steam users will get it through the auto updater or can download manually. You can download the update now, but will not see any game servers till ranked providers update on Wednesday.

There are a lot of posts regarding BF3 here on the Battlefield Blog. But... what about older titles? Well, here's an update long in the making for BFBC2 PC!

It will all go live in the wee hours of Wednesday Sep 21st (EU time).

What is the patch about?Its main goal is to address stability problems with the game and performance issues. It is not intended to address game logic fixes.

You are being vague. Exact changelist please!Ok, here goes...

Removed some memory leaks

Fixed crashes when the game attempted to render lots of content (high detail, high FOV or multiple-monitor modes); this should particularly help multi-monitor users

That's huge man. Given that size, I would expect dinosaur survival mode to be included.The patch itself contains all previous patches rolled into one. While it would have been technically possible to create a smaller patch for those who have Client R10 installed already, that would have delayed the release of the patch even further - so we thought it better to release a larger patch now, than a smaller patch sometime in the future. Read the Rest...

Last month a Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta patch was released to the public and then submitted to EA and Steam for QA testing. Yesterday, DICE's Mikael Kalms announced on the EA UK forums that is has passed QA and will be released Wednesday September 21st. Thanks Battlefield-Company.de.

The game has completed Steam QA! Expect the release in the wee hours of Wednesday Sep 21st (GMT).

There will be a proper announcement on Monday Sep 19th.

Happy days.

We suspect the changelog will be the same as what it was for the beta. More information should be out on Monday when a formal announcement is made.

Removed some memory leaks

Fixed crashes when the game attempted to render lots of content (high detail, high FOV or multiple-monitor modes)

DICE released a beta patch today for Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The beta will only work with the non-Steam version of the game. Full information on installing the beta patch can be found in the EA UK forum thread.

What's this?

DICE has produced a candidate for the next game client update for BFBC2 PC. If this is deemed good enough, it will become the official patch, and will be pushed out to everyone. For now though, the patch is still in Beta.

House rules:You install and run the patch at your own risk.The Beta client can only play against a couple of special Beta game servers.You are expected to report problems and overall impressions in this forum (BC2 PC Patch Feedback - Electronic Arts UK Community).

Should I install the Beta Patch?

If you are technically minded and you want to try it out, feel free to do so.If you just want to play the game, wait until the full release takes place.

What are the changes?

Removed some memory leaks

Fixed crashes when the game attempted to render lots of content (high detail, high FOV or multiple-monitor modes)

DICE will be taking down the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 PC master server early tomorrow morning for maintenance. The maintenance period starts at 2am PT and lasts for 3 hours. You will be unable to login to BFBC2 during this time.

We will take down the BFBC2 PC master servers for a couple of hours during Tuesday Aug 23rd.

EA released their Q1 FY12 financial results today revealing that Battlefield 3 pre-orders are up 10x that of Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has also sold over 9 million units including digital and mobile downloads.

Electronic Arts Reports Q1 FY12 Financial Results

Battlefield 3 Pre-Orders Up More Than 10x Battlefield: Bad Company 2NCAA 12 Sell-Through Up 17% Versus NCAA 11Star Wars: The Old Republic Breaks EA Record For Pre-OrdersQ1 Non-GAAP Digital Revenue $209 Million; Up 35% On A Trailing Twelve Month Basis

“This was another solid quarter driven by both digital and packaged goods,” said John Riccitiello, Chief Executive Officer. “We saw strong digital revenue growth over the prior year. On packaged goods, NCAA is off to a great start and pre-orders for Battlefield 3 are tracking extremely well.”

Selected Operating Highlights and Metrics:

Life to date, including digital and mobile downloads, FIFA 11 sold in nearly 15 million units and Battlefield: Bad Company™ 2 sold in over nine million units, demonstrating strong cross-platform results

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is making it's way to the Android mobile operating system, specifically the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY. It's unknown if this is an exclusive or if it will make its way to the main Android marketplace. Sony Ericsson says they will be showing off the Xperia PLAY with many of these new titles at E3. We'll be sure to head on over to their booth to see if Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is being demoed.

With E3 now just around the corner the activity in the gaming industry is heating up. We’ve just made a press release listing upcoming new games for XperiaTM PLAY. Many of them will be shown in our stand next week.

Amongst the titles is Minecraft from the developer Mojang that I visited last Friday. A really unique and hugely successful indie game that will be an XperiaTM PLAY exclusive on Android. Some of my colleagues shot the video below to show it off a bit :-)

Many of these games will be available for demo in our stand at E3 so if you’re going there please stop by and have a go!

These 20 new games will all be launched in the coming months and more details around availability and XperiaTM PLAY exclusivity will be announced during E3 and closer to launch.

During E3 I hope to get more details and gameplay videos of many of these new games, I will keep you posted as E3 starts.

Here’s the full list of all the new games announced in the press release:

The EA Gun Club page announced today that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for iPad has been released today. The iPad version includes HD graphics which are optimized for the iPad's hardware. The iPhone and iPod touch version have also been updated today to add support for up to 10 players.

The iPad version is $9.99 and is a 256 MB download.

Good news, Battlefield fans! If you have an iPad or iPad 2, you can now get a full Battlefield experience on your awesome Apple device. Suffice it to say, it’s one of the most powerful FPS games available for iOS.

f you’ve already played BC2 on iPhone or iPod touch, you’ll find the bigger display and HD-quality graphics on your iPad gives this version a wider view of the maps and reveal all the gritty details, too. Combine the visual impact with the 14 single player missions, the intense jungle, arctic, and desert environments, plus the hardcore firepower, and you might forget this totally immersive experience is all contained on a mobile device.

For those reporting for duty on an iPhone or iPod touch, there’s good news for you, too. The latest update enhances the multiplayer lobby and increases the players-per-game to a total of 10. This escalated online multiplayer action applies to the all-new version for iPad, as well.

We are giving out another copy of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam for PC courtesy of DICE. The hint this time is that it is in our Battlefield 2 section of the site. The code will be listed in plain text. First person to find the code, load up Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and redeem the code gets it! Remember it's one time use!

On Tuesday the 31st of May at 16:00 CET (10 am EST and 7am PST) we are giving away five Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam codes for PC hidden on five different community sites around the internet.The first one to get the code gets to keep it and also, one code is only valid on one EA account. Happy hunting!

Shacknews posted about some financial information that EA filed yesterday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Among the 119 page report it states says that most of the revenue generated in North America last fiscal year can be attributed to 3 games, one of them being Battlefield: Bad Company 2. In Europe and Asia Battlefield didn't make it, but Medal of Honor did in Asia.

Also interesting is that part about GameStop accounting for 16% of EA's net revenue, and Walmart was 10%. If there is any doubt about which U.S. retailer will carry the Battlefield 3 Physical Warfare Pack that should answer your question. Back in February 2010, GameStop hosted the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 GameStop Bracket Challenge. EA & GameStop have a history of working together.

Electronic Arts yesterday filed its annual 'Form 10-K' financial mega-report with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. As well as the usual sums of income and expenditure, the 119-page report offers a handful of little fact nuggets giving a wider view of what's going on at EA, including its future plans.

EA also revealed which titles were the biggest across the world over the last fiscal year, saying North American revenue was "driven by" Madden NFL 11, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Medal of Honor. In Europe, however, FIFA Soccer 11, Medal of Honor and Need for Speed Hot Pursuit were in the driver's seat. Over in Asia, the top games were FIFA 11, Medal of Honor, and the free-to-play EA Sports FIFA Online 2.

Two last fun little fact nuggets for you--direct sales to GameStop accounted for 16% of EA's net revenue, while Walmart was 10%. That'll be why GameStop has so much bargaining power and gets so much special treatment.

We have partnered up with DICE again to do another Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam code giveaway, but this one is for PC. Since last time it was a bit tricky to find the code, I'll tell you the code is hidden in the Battlefield: Bad Company 1 section. This is a one time use BFBC2 Vietnam code for PC. First person to find it and enter it in-game gets it. Good luck!

Update: Code has been claimed. It was hidden in the BFBC characters section.

On Tuesday the 10th of May at 16:00 CET (10 am EST and 7am PST) we are giving away five Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam codes for PC hidden on five different community sites around the internet.The first one to get the code gets to keep it and also, one code is only valid on one EA account. Happy hunting!

This past week has been EA week on Steam where everyday a new EA title has gone on sale. Today only is Battlefield and Medal of Honor day. Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam, the BFBC2 SPECACT Kit Upgrade and the Battlefield 2 Complete Collection are all on sale. Medal of Honor and Medal of Honor Airborne are on sale as well. This sale ends Monday at 10am PST.

EA released their quarter 4 fiscal year 2011 financial results today, which announced that Battlefield 3 pre-orders are up 700% compared to Battlefield: Bad Company 2 in 2010. Looks like all the marketing for Battlefield 3 is already paying off and this is just the beginning.

Also included is that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 sold over 7 million units to date including digital copies.

Update: One thing I didn't noticed until now is that the financial results also mention a handheld / mobile version of Battlefield 3. Thanks Evil_Paladin.

Electronic Arts Reports Q4 FY11 and FY11 Financial Results

Battlefield 3 Pre-Orders Up More Than 700% Vs. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 in 2010

“We're happy to report another strong quarter, top and bottom line. We're particularly proud of the scale and growth rate of our digital business," said John Riccitiello, CEO. "EA is building its digital business in a way only EA can, with key brands performing well cross-platform from mobile, to social to console.”

Life to date, including digital, FIFA 11 sold in 12 million units; Battlefield: Bad Company™ 2 sold in over seven million units; and Medal of Honor™, Need for Speed™ Hot Pursuit, and Madden NFL 11 each sold in over five million units.